1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand tools containing multiple tool components for performing various tasks with a single tool. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hand tool with multiple tool components for use in servicing and repairing irrigation and sprinkler equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
It is important for professional servicemen, such as locksmiths, electricians, plumbers, and irrigation contractors, as well as do-it-yourselfers, to carry a variety of tools to a specific location or job site for use in their work involving maintenance and repair of mechanical structures. As each tool is generally sold separately, servicemen are required to carry a complete set of tools to a job site for use in their work.
As is often the case, special carrying devices such as a tool box or tool belt are necessary to transport the different tools that are required to accomplish each task of maintenance or repair. As a consequence, a user's tool belt or box becomes cluttered with hand tools. Furthermore, the task of transporting a large number of tools becomes cumbersome, requiring a great deal of time and effort that would be better spent in repairing or servicing a particular mechanical structure.
Various multifunctional hand tool devices have been developed to address these problems. Most of these devices incorporate a screwdriver-like hand tool that has a handle and a shank. In some devices, different screwdriver bits are stored within a cavity in the handle. A handle could enclose several Phillips screwdriver bits, several flat-head screwdriver bits, and a Torx screwdriver bit. Each bit can be engaged by the shank that extends from the handle. Accordingly, one hand tool could perform the function of four, six, or even eight different screwdrivers.
In other devices the screwdriver bits may be disposed in one or a plurality of reversible couplings that form the shank of the hand tool. In such a device the coupling can engage a screwdriver bit in either end. One end of the coupling is inserted into a cavity in the handle exposing a screwdriver bit in the other end. The coupling is capable of being removed from the cavity, rotated 180°, and reinserted into the cavity to expose the opposite end of the coupling with a different screwdriver bit. Each of the screwdriver bits has a different screwdriver head on each end; accordingly, the screwdriver bits could also be removable from the coupling and reversed.
A hand tool having a reversible coupling engaging two reversible screwdriver bits forms a four-in-one screwdriver tool. Other devices expand on this design by providing two smaller couplings that fit into each end of the larger coupling. The smaller coupling then engages a screwdriver bit on either end. Each smaller coupling then contains two reversible screwdriver bits, and the larger coupling contains the two smaller couplings forming an eight-in-one screwdriver tool.
The aforementioned multifunctional screwdriver devices work well in general applications when multiple screwdriver sizes may be needed. However, other industries, particularly the irrigation and sprinkler industry, require the use of a plurality of different tools, in addition to multiple screwdrivers, for servicing and repair of sprinkler equipment.
As a result, as many as twenty different tools, or more, may be required to service different components common to most sprinkler systems. Carrying such a large number of tools from one location to another becomes cumbersome, and is particularly inefficient if one of the needed tools is left behind. Consequently, a great deal of time and effort which would be better spent in repairing or servicing sprinkler systems is wasted on locating, gathering, and transporting the required tools.
Accordingly, a need exists for a multifunctional tool that incorporates multiple tools needed for use in servicing and repair of sprinkler and irrigation systems into one hand-held tool. In meeting this need it is also desirable for the multifunctional irrigation tool to be ergonomic and relatively compact. Such a device is disclosed and claimed herein.